I think they’re a perfect gigging guitar. Cheap, plays, and looks expensive. And if it gets broken or stolen it’s not that big of a loss. Now if we can get good fake amps we’d be in business.
Well, your phone was probably made in China, does it make it fake? The difference oftentimes is a permission of the original company to have their items reproduced in China. If tomorrow Fender allowed Chinese make their guitars (actually they have done so already), would it make those guitars original?
But they’ve turned their brand around. Hard. What they’re putting out now has a wide variety, they’re making changes, upgrades, and I’ve heard across a wide spectrum that they’re great. Plus, inflation exists ... nerd. Even the cheapest fender MIM is $700 nowadays.
There's no reason for them to bargain their guitars just because they are going bankrupt. It'll make more sense to stop the production then announce they are closing but hold all the ready made guitats then sell them as collectibles would be more profitable.
Thahaha........people wake up!!! I played hundrets of guitars from 100 to 2700 Euros, and my best sounding and playabel guitar is about 250€ . where i only change the pickups and bridge. The guitar makes the feel, the amp make the sound.
+Mitch Haman: Man, you hit the nail right on the head. Blatantly throwing on famous logos on replicas is nothing short of outright theft and a conscious desire to steal money from unsuspecting buyers. Especially when they go as far as throwing on LEGITIMATE serial numbers. Create your own brand. Create your own identity. Work towards actually BUILDING your OWN thing rather than stealing. Zero issues with uniquely branded replicas.
Joe Satchton Agree. When you put a real serial # on it or nothing to distinguish it from the real thing, you have crossed the line and someone may be cheated in the future. Guitars like this can get out in the wild for sale as a used strat. Maybe to one of us! I would rather know the actual manufacturer of this well-made guitar, so I could add it & other models made by them, to my shopping list.
You’re now my favorite guitar RUclipsr. You’re voice is amazing. You play amazing. You never miss anything in your videos. Keep it up. You deserve way more subscribers.
Hard to imagine China dumping guitars to kill Fender and Gibson. I know their labor costs are really low but it kinda makes you think, why are genuine guitars so expensive huh?
I totally wonder that myself why are American guitars so damm expensive the labor the taxes in this country all the frivolous taxes that we pay in this country city local state taxes federal taxes. Wood is would guitar necks body is would what is the problem with the price we buy these fake guitars and change out the pick guard and the Pick UPS to your desired brand a few adjustments and you kick a** with a nice guitar. I was researching the guitar wood blanks and the wood blanks themselves to shape and mold your own guitar course more than this guitar here actually between 60 and a and copy $200 so you can get inexpensive wood but then the time the effort in carving it out sanding it the tools and materials you'll be over a $150 no time painting it then buying the neck. I'm I pick up biscuits are and I have the if I ever have to change the net to something stylish at least they have a normal would body I get some pickups some good tuners ship I could also router the body and put a nother tremolo on it to do dives and bombs And have a kick a** universal guitar split the pick UPS in every which way but loose get all the sound you need. Anybody have the link to this guitar
Jui Jitsu I think I saw a guy mention a seller on another video he said it was crap ...the one he got. But it's a gamble. I would look at Harley Benton. Lmao.
I bought my American-made 1992 Standard Stratocaster for $600 in 1993. My two newer Mexican ones cost MORE!!!!! I also have an American-made 1978 Precision Bass I bought in 1981 for $478!!!!
THANKS TO ONE OF YOUR EARLIER VIDEOS, I bought a strat copy on amazon called a "School Band" guitar for $47. It has a beautiful sunburst finish, Fender style headstock, maple like neck, ebony finger board (I'm not a wood expert), but the craftsmanship is excellent. No decals or numbers and was not set up ready to play, but they even through in two allen wrenches for stress rod and bridge height adjusters. I had to straighten the neck, set the string action and set the intonation. I also filed the ends of the fret wires. It now plays and feels like an old friend. They also included a gig bag, ten foot cord and a pick. I wish Fender COULD do that for under 50 bucks.
lol for real! And anyone would know that fender is fake, just by the spread out 12 fret inlays and the skunk stripe is too dark (not to mention these fakes have no tilt bar in the neck).
I've actually bought a replica Les Paul and telecaster from China. Both have pretty much the exact company logos and markings as seen on the real guitars. And they both play and sound really really good. I think the reason people like me buy these guitars is because I'm on a fixed budget I'm disabled so I only get a small amount of money every month and to be able to play a guitar that looks and plays like the real thing is kind of exciting anyway that's my take on it
Nothing wrong with that sir, your just a smart person. people that can throw with money buy for my part a Fender, I also choose a good similar Faker, the difference is almost not to spot. thats like those very very good fake rolex watches for around 500$, as good as similar to the real one even with the same materials, i wonder who gets ripped of, buying one for 500 or 50000? Make you think huh. Massindoctrination of a brandname, its what people believe that counts, if 99 of 100 people think its ok, is it ok then?
Man that is scary. I even should say that I’m the type of person who don’t care much about the brand of guitar that I play as long as I enjoy playing it!
Mat Dubé I have one. I like it more than my Epis L.P or even my LTD ESP 256. I just bought an Ibanez, so we'll see. My tele was missing a screw on the guard-now it's true when people say I have "a screw lose") and one guard screw lookked like it was screwed in by a drunk China man(literally as it was assembled in China!). But the pots feel smoother than my other guitars, via the nice hats and the switch moves smoooth and feels "solid". On this video MAX makes any guitar sound great. That is the sign of a good musician-NOT a $10,000 instrument but PRICELESS TALENT FROM DILIGENT PRACTICE. You know that by your comment. He didnt mention the neck; it too is like a Fender Tele. It's a modiified/rounded "V". It's EXACTLY like my Epi L.P. Traditional. This is in fact my favorite guitar. And it costs 20% of each of one of my other 4 axes!!: $100 vs. $500.
antigen4 scary for the original brands. There’s always going to be some purists that’ll buy the original but to be honest most of the time the price tag of a Gibson is too high for my (wife’s) budget!!
Mat Dubé I used to be a competitive cyclist. Armstrong could beat me on a tricycle...even if not doped to the gills. My surgeon friend owns a $20,000 Specialized bike fully tricked out. He never has time to ride it. Talent in cycling and in musical instrunents cant be bought(except for P.E.D.s). It must be earned through training by mileage or by hours in the practice room.
I bought a genuine Gibson last year, admittedly only one of the 60s tribute's but it was bloody awful, I sold it after two weeks of lacerated fingers. The quality was terrible. I replaced it with a Vintage brand LP Paradise, sounds better and plays without needing to wear plasters. I have also bought Vintage brand Telecaster thinline as well.
I used to have two Chinese knockoff strats, one white, one black. The only things I changed were the heads. I slapped in some Grover locking ones. The original heads weren't exactly that bad; I just have a preference for locking heads. Played the guitars at gigs for years amped through a Bugera tube. Guitarists came up to me after shows and said my sound was spectacular. If only they knew!
If it plays that well, they should remove the Fender logo and sell it on the basis it is a good guitar. I would certainly pay that sort of money for a good, no brand guitar.
HampshireGary .....they got stuck holding the bag....they would have to recirculate huge numbers of instruments they legally/ethically made.... Gibson's, and hopefully not Fender's, bad management hurt all parties concerned...from manufacturers to contracted dealerships
People make 'partscasters' all the time and plenty of other manufacturers make their own copies of Strat's and Tele's etc with their own decals on them, and that's all fine and dandy. Therefore, the ONLY issue is the decals.....end of story!!
The problem isn't not having the patent , but letting them expire . Happens with most industrialized products , as new tech comes out the old stuff is forgotten about or seemed not a threat to future products .Patent expires then it's fair game for everyone , another example is the Hawk 250 street and trail bike, other than the modern look to the bike everything else is taken from the 75 Honda 250 which Honda let expire , and Hawk is making a killing at $1500 for a brand new bike delivered to your door. On the other side of the coin you have Nokia which developed most of the transmitters for cell phones and they've already renewed their patent for another 20 years , not gonna let it go when every other manufacturer is paying you billions for 40 year old tech.
+Esteban Aguayo body shapes are not patentable headstocks on the otherhand are protected by trademark laws and thats actually why gibson sued ibanez in the 70's .....headstocks can be licensed but putting another name on it like chibsons is very illegal
I think at Aliexpress, you can request no decal or made-in-USA, or you can give them a design and put your own logo on it. Then there's no issue at all.
The issue is selling them as Fenders or Gibsons if they had the Chinese company's name on it there would be no issues as you know what you're buying.Theyre Counterfeit,Like Chinese Rolexs,trying to pass off as something they aren't.
One thing I really like about your video - You don't just start off with criticism of these replicas. You appreciate each and every detail of the craftsmanship utilized in making of the instrument. There's a lot of criticism over the internet bout these Chinese instruments wherein the sellers on AliExpress clearly mention that these are just replicas and not the original, some of them even going to the extent of honestly telling the kinds of woods used in the making, for the price point. Why smh? There are some really cool made in China guitars which are affordable and are a good option for a guy looking for a decent, original like stuff for a reasonable price.
I wouldn't knowingly buy one either, like many people say here, if it had another name on the headstock, I would consider it as a cheap backup.. change the pickups and use it as a mod platform, but not with another companies name on the headstock. The fakes are showing up in pawn shops and music stores now, and they're charging the replicated guitars prices.
You can also ask them to put whatever you want on it in the fender/gibson font. There's a guy on youtube whose gibson replica says "Fuck" haha
5 лет назад+2
I though about it also, getting one of these and replacing pickups. But seeing how expensive pickups are, after buying a set and replacing it you can buy a MIM Fender Strat for the same money.
My first guitar was a Chender Tele when I knew nothing and was tricked but now I realize it's way better than other starter guitars I couldve gotten. It had a mahogany body, something more unique than the usual basswood bodies on budget guitars.
I have a chinese Gibson replica. It plays great, new hardware and pickups. It’s a stage tool and sounds good. Looks good too, fills the eye on stage. Just like five unplugged (or just dummy) marshall cabinets staced on top of each other.
Hi Max, first of all I would like to thank you for your new video, as the topic has become more and more important in recent years. It's so hard to believe when you said that you did not ask if it's an original Fender, because this guitar looks just like a real fender and sounds like a real fender. For me It's absolutely clear that I would never buy a copy (plagiarism) of a guitar from a reputable company like Fender or Gibson, because I will not support this criminal companies. For me there is only one question: Either I have the money to buy an original Fender, or not! There are so many other Strat models on the market from other companies that cost less than $ 145 and these cheap guitars are not bad either! And you should also remember that when buying plagiarism models you don't have any kind of warranty! And if it necessarily has to be a Fender, then there are also the different Squier models, which are highly recommended for the much cheaper price. One thing is clear, anyone who buys plagiarism (no matter which kind of product), should not complain if one day he himself is cheated with plagiarism. I hope I could express myself good enough in englisch With lovely greetings from germany, Matthias
Matthias, the market place is real. We may not want market forces to be real but they are. Everyone is under the power of the market. Creating and defending monopolies with military aggression was the last gasp of power for the failing European monarchies. The monarchies needed a reason to justify their existence, and they needed a revenue source, so they granted monopolies. Acting like monopolies have some type of divine right to exist is as silly as the monarchies that created them. What's even sillier is defending them in this stage of globalization. Globalization is real, it is destroying the economic (and by proxy social) fabric of the first world nations. I, personally, believe in nations, and their usefulness in political organization. They will be the last bastions of freedom. But as our societies are being destroyed by the downsides of globalization, it is absolutely silly not to avail yourself of the upsides. The benefit here is that you can get something you want for a tenth of the cost.
Yea I would where can i buy one my house burnt down in August and my Guitars got destroyed...i only play to relax can you send me a link as to where to buy one pleaseeeeeeeeeeee.
I basically base my guitar on how it feels , weight, feel of the neck ,, then I would up grade the electronics pick-ups. volume, tone pots ect... So for the right right guitar I would not have any problem with imports.
My friend sold me a 1986 Fender Strat Made In Japan - 20 years ago. He admitted to me that he had considered removing the "Made In Japan" printing, but I happened to buy it before that could take place. To this day, I love my Strat!! The neck is super thin, and someone had put a little Seymour Duncan Humbucker in the bridge. I ended up putting a '57/'62 Style Fender single coil in the middle, which sounds great. I feel lucky to have found the one I did - I also had a Stagg that is a very decent copy of a Jaguar/Jazzmaster kind of hybrid. I would never hide the fact that it is a Stagg, because a good guitar is a good guitar!! Plus, it's Alder, Maple, and Rosewood. It's also easy to replace pickups. Snobs will be snobs. To each their own!!
I'd buy it for a mod platform, only if I sanded the logos and serial number away, because I wouldn't want people thinking it was a real Fender. Maybe get cheeky and put a logo with the Fender font that says "Knockoff"
I bought one of these Chinese Stratocasters 4 months ago I was blown away by the quality fit and finish they are truly giving Fender a run for there money but I do believe they should not be using the Fender logo.
Now then... let's slow down on this a bit (if you don't mind). Who is it that cares about the name on the headstock? You, me and others in the know, but how many in your audience, assuming you have an audience, have a clue what brand a guitar is? I'm beginning to think we're the one(s) who have the issue, not the people who see us play. Or am I missing the point?
Would not buy it. Just because its using a brand name that isn't their own.The company should put their own name on the headstock. Especially if they have a quality product.
Agreed but you and I both know that that if this same guitar was sold under a random never-before heard brand, people wouldn't buy it regardless of the quality. I'm not justifying their practice but just saying that it's not necessarily the lack of quality in their products for which they are riding on another brand's reputation.
I agree with your assessment, generally speaking, but Gibson sanctioned it in the beginning of the whole Chinese production era. Gibson saw a cash cow, and went for it because their days were numbered
been buying Vintage Modified Squiers as they are good value for my budget - and one of the reason I buy those is because I could not tell the difference if I was looking at a used "Made in USA' Fender. Especially if the seller wanted to meet at Starbucks etc.
One key difference no one seems to notice are the 12th fret inlay dots. Genuine Fender dots usually lay within the A/B strings. Copies usually place their dots within the E/E strings. Note: there are some genuine Fenders that were made in Japan in the 80's that placed their dots wide like the copies.
Mark A. Vestal yeah that’s normally how it goes people buy squires with really nice necks and just change the pickups and boom it’s the same quality as a made in America guitar sound wise then get a set up and you have a guitar that’s just as good as a MIA
Folks I've been living in Asia for nearly 9 yrs and bought a "faux-ender" strat when I moved here. It came from China and I even identified the original factory. The guitar looked great when I first bought it - basic black with white scratch board and maple neck. A few things were obviously non-Fender - the tuners were always crap and the fret wire is poor quality and wears quicky, some details are simply not correct as you mentioned. It is also lighter in weight. Now, if you want it to last 1-2 years, then it is fine. Yet I have a 40 year old Ibanez Artist semi-accoustic that I bought new in Australia and it is still a beautiful guitar. Further, I sold my original CBS edition 1976 strat when it was 10 years old and it was still perfect then, and it got played every day. After 18 months, the replica neck completely warped, the tuners are now useless (I will have to replace them), the electrics are faulty and the guitar is virtually unplayable. I have made numerous adjustments to make it more playable, but it is now virtually scrap. There is also little point replacing the neck on a copy and in any case, the metal ware is crap. So if I had my time over again, I would have just bought a Squier or an Epiphone. I have not played in a band for many years thus I'm not concerned about the brand in any case. But don;t expect a cheap replica (branded or otherwise) to last well. Living where I do is hard on guitars in any case, thus if you are in a temperate climate, it may last longer. But forget it as a long term proposition.
Any time I buy a second hand instrument, I am forced to do extensive research before the purchase these days. Fender (And Gibson) should set up a data base where when you enter the serial number, you can see all stats relating to that specific instrument (Color, Pickups, fretboard, radius, bridge (Trem), music store that sold the instrument when it was new, etc. as it left the factory. We need more than date of manufacture.
Honestly, after the poor quality that Gibson has been putting out for the last decade, I'm not at all surprised you can find Chibsons that play as well or better than the real deal. My issue is with knock-offs - no matter the quality - using the logos and *freakin' serial numbers* to make people think these are from the OEM. Even if the buyer knows, that's some shady practice. Personally, I've modded Squier guitars to my liking to save on cost over US Fenders and have no regrets, but at least that's still Fender family and not an impersonation.
I was gifted a Squire. It actually said Fender by Squire. The Fender logo was standard looking and the words by Squire were very small. I painted it with fingernail polish and Sharpie in a hippie-dippie finish. I guess somebody through is was real Fender 'cause the stole it right off the stage during break. All I lost was a great playing workhorse😢
like your channel a bunch.nice to see someone open minded about off brand guitar companies.no cursing or bad mouthing the other companies too.do you ever come across any heartfields ? how about a review on reverend or eastwood.great channel !
I'm not American, but I agree with Trump when I hear him talk about the money that the US has lost due to intellectual property theft by China. And it's not just guitars... and it's not just the USA.
But its tjeir fault too , i know that they charged a lot fpr their products spevially this guitar , since theres a lot of poor man that want this , they buy this instead over a guitar that is the only difgerence is who clicked the button of a macjine and others smaller factors , i know that there money have a higher value than some asian countries but they just put to high prices in their products , that is greediness
I believe all USA manufacturers of instruments should be concerned. The Chinese are getting better at knocking off these classic designs. If the Chinese ever come to the realization that they can rival the quality of the USA made Fender, Gibson et. al. without counterfeiting and chincing on material costs, then the USA brands have got a serious problem. China is not quite there yet, but once they find a manufacturing equilibrium with labor/material/management/brand/quality there would be no reason to buy a Fender for $1,200.00 when I can get a Chinese clone for $147.00 and have it rival in quality to a USA made product. That is the heart of the issue.
jdj5952 exactly. Ibanez in the 80s was making US brand copy cat guitars. Often way better and cheaper than US made guitars. It's only a matter of time until China gets up to par. That's how the market works. Once a product is out for the world, people are bount to copy it until they make it up to par or better. IMO it's for the best. It reduces the huge mark ups for just the brand name and therefore more people can afford a good piece of gear without dumping thousands. Phillip McKnight has a video on this topic and he makes excellent points in regards to it. Cheers!
A question or two or three or... from an old guy. Does the fender logo match according to the year of the serial number? Are the knobs and switches tight and well-made? Are the frets finished? Are the machine heads well built And does it stay in tune? Would my grandsons enjoy playing it as much as a back up made in Mexico Strat Or is it a future Pete Townsend end of concert guitar. Thank you so much for your time and energy exploring all this for us. The reason I asked these questions is I thought I found a great deal from a guy who had a Lupold scope for half off. Worst $600 I ever spent. Junk. Keep on rocking and enjoy every day. Life is short rock the ride.
My Chibson r9 is pretty awesome. I did need to set it up and swap out a few things. $200 guitar $160 for a set of duncan 59's and a new toggle switch. Played it for 2 years now and the pots are starting to wear out. So thats next on my to do list. Still love this guitar I call my pearly gates. Bought a chibanez jem and it cost $180. And that was a nightmare. Still curious about these chineese strats and teles and might still try it. Great video and dig that your cat is chilling while you jam. Mine does too.
another excellent vid max! This issue is a result of 2 things. we helped build up these businesses overseas which now have little to no interest in protecting copyrights for businesses thousands of miles away and all the skill to make great guitars cheaply. And people wanting quality goods cheap. Ultimately a case of big business making poor business deals so their IP's are protected?
Yes, the string trees are a dead giveaway that it’s not an American Strat. The Fender Decal is not placed correctly. The Decal should be closer in the corner. Another great video Max !! 👍
That wasn't what I was referring to. The cheaper Fenders have those exact style trees that are on this guitar. The American Fender has just 1 tree and it is a different style, they have ball-like ends on the part that holds the string down. That was my point. The trees on this guitar don't have those. My point and comment was for American Strats.
I personally had nock offs no matter the brand ( not including food) because to me ANY amount of coping and selling is money stolen from the originals and that's very rarely, if ever , a good thing. Great video S always, man. Love these.👌👌
Yes 100% I would buy that! I paid £400 for my Mexican fender in the sale and for just over £100 I could get an imitation American one!??? Hell yes even if it was only the quality of a mid range squire guitar it would be worth it. And as you said it could be modified with new pickups and locking tuners!
I don't think the chibsons made any difference to Gibson $ problems the ppl that bought those didn't have the money to buy an les Paul anyway so they lost no money.
I need to get me one of these! As someone who loves modding guitars (especially strats), I would really love to get my hands on a strat like this, as well as it becoming harder for me to find a fairly priced lefty strat here in Sydney.
Wonder how many of these have already hit the market. Like you said if a Pro player like you has trouble detecting the fakery, wondering about the unschooled layman! Thanks for sharing this vital piece of information. Deep respect from India. Roby.
if nothing else...its a good way to get a neck for your project guitar right? here's the thing....if you think the chinese knockoff guitars are what took gibson down...I think you're wrong about that. Gibson's guitar division was and still is profitable. They were loosing money in other areas, like the phillips consumer electronics and the software division were both doing poorly. Also, QA had taken a huge hit lately. Lots of guitars with bad fretwork and other stupid careless quality issues found all instruments at all price points were hurting their reputation and offerings that no one wanted like robot tuners and high performance instruments hurt even the iron clad guitar division. The chibsons never became a main stream thing.
I agree. The people that shelled out $150 for a chibson would likely never pay $2500+ for a real Gibson, no actual sales were lost to the Chinese market. Gibson got itself into this trouble all on it's own.
So I might bite on this...Ive always wanted a gibson explorer but want and need are two different things. I don't need a $1000 plus explorer but, an explorer for $230 to the door that i can customize with good pickups and tuners....that's a definite maybe. For you guys that are interested, the address is Aliexpress.com and they make just about everything. it is kind of scary. Nice job on the review Max.
Ethically, it's probably not a good idea to support illegitimate products such as these. It really does affect the original manufacturer's sales and operations. However, if it plays well, sounds good, looks nice, and the price is as low as you say, I probably wouldn't be beyond the desire to own one and enjoy playing it! In any case, I think that I wouldn't try to pass it off as an original. Great review! 😊👍👍🎸🎶
6 лет назад+3
you can tell for one thing it has a a squire bridge...right there you know its bogus
Btw, an ex-craftman from guitar company in Indonesia (who producing middle quality guitars of ibanez, epiphone, jackson, squier etc guitars) retired from the company and create their on workshop. They can make a really good guitar with low price.
I ordered mine yesterday. Aliexpress man! Only order from sellers with good reviews and that have at lest 4 or more orders. Hope this helps. Mine will take 20 days to make and about 10 to shipped. I should have it by the end of September.
I just bought one as a beginner guitar. I appreciate your video! do you think this is a better buy than a squire for instance?? thanks brother you rock!
The pickup's sound kind of muddy so yeah, big difference from an actual fender but tbh if i didn't know that was a chinese copy i might get fooled real bad
As someone who loves Japanese guitars... I find this really interesting. I was at GC today and played a Fender Player Series and... I immediately left it there lol Same with the 2018 Gibson Les Pauls... quality is gone and at 850 (Fender Player) or 1k for a Gibson (with a sticky neck), I understand why most people rather play a replica than an original. Greco, Edwards and Tokai Les Paul are truly fantastic for their price
Maxx, I've been watching your videos for a while now And I am impressed with this strat. Where can I order one like yours? is there a website you can steer me too?
Thahaha........people wake up!!! I played hundrets of guitars from 100 to 2700 Euros, and my best sounding and playabel guitar is about 250€ . where i only change the pickups and bridge. The guitar makes the feel, the amp make the sound.
Is it basswood, Max? I had one about 1 year ago, it was a gilmour model which for the real one you pay A LOT of money. Overall played well, but needed some setup. Btw, you should try a tele, but order it with swamp ash and make it to your liking (color, neck) mine cost me 230 dlls and it was sweeeet, I was looking for a lefty warmoth to my taste but $$$$$$
I have a Chinese Malmsteen Fender Stratocaster, and maybe I got just plain ol' everyday lucky, and perhaps the Chinese have seriously upped their game in replicating these Fender Stratocaster, because all I know is I REALLY like my replica. Regardless of the debate about who is/isn't getting paid due to licensing, I'd bet if Fender (in this instance) were to start making these replica guitars and at a competitive price they make a mint. Something else is I have yet to meet anyone who has one and who will give it up. Nobody I know who has one is keeping it and play it routinely. I do and have zero plans to get rid of mine; again, they are really well made and for about $150 bucks delivered verses ten times that for one, you are definitely the consumer who fell upstairs for what he got!
I think that as China and Japan realize that they can actually make a quality product (and they do have the knowledge and craftmanship) and be able to sell it at a reasonable price everywhere else in the world, many companies that used to rely on their "fame" will be in serious trouble over the next 5-10 years. It will take only for them (chinese and japanese companies) to come up with their own brand name and a series of sponsorships to some famous musicians and they would beat up their competition. Why? Because as quality tends to be about the same, price will be the key factor for the customers...and we know that they make it cheaper by the dozen, even if their costs increase due to the development of better pickups, stains, etc. I always tought Gibson was the best, but their prices were the equivalent of RAPE.
DiscoScottie true!. What I meant is that in comparison their "price" is more affordable than the top american brands, although they are also becoming pricey. What I personally like about the Japanese makers and their culture in general is that from time to time someone there decides to become a guitar maker, this person would go way beyond the technical aspects of building a good instrument. Instead, this person will dedicate himlself to care for the root of the tree from which after 18 years of care he will get the wood to build this guitar version of a "Katana". You know what I mean?. I have read about a few of them. Cheers!
Jonnatan Pena, one only need look at Ibanez to see Japanese quality in action, those guitars are just as good (many are better) than anything Fender or Gibson can offer. Ask Martin who their biggest competitor is in the acoustic market, and I bet Takamine is at the top of the list. In a few years, there will be a native Chinese brand that will come out and give the big boys a run for their money... mark my words, it will happen
DiscoScottie tokai, fernandes, esp they are all based on traditional designs somewhat (the latter less so) not illegal fakes but for examples fernandes burny guitars can't be sold in the US because they are too close to real Gibson's.
I not only would buy it, I have several of these Strats. Like you said, they need a little work, meaning I changed out the tuners & the pickups. I also had the frets leveled just to be on the safe side, but not every one of them needed it! Every single one sounds great, and plays VERY well. I have10 of them. All together I have less than a grand of an investment in them. THAT alone is enough to out weigh the cost of an American Strat. And I would put them up against ANY real Fender any day and they would smoke'em!
Bought a Squire the exact Copy of that in Arctic White. I used to play in high school and earn my money and had a vast know,edge of guitars and amps. Boy I wish those days were back again!
The body is abit thinner, maple too light a color, number of pickguard screws wrong, but eventually this company will get it right and you can buy genuine Fender parts, gfs pickups and electronics that can along with other tweaks make it passable to 90% of buyers. Fender and Gibson asked for this to happen by being greedy and asking too much. Its business 101, if you overcharge then you cause competition. Keep up the great vids!
You established how well the guitar plays. I really liked those pickups a lot. With whst you said about being given a convincing back story--- under those circumstances I would have bought it. Grest video
I have one exactly like the one in the video but mine is a California Series 1997. After I trade off my Gibson 1978 SG Firebrand for it, I went through a bunch of website to make sure it wasn't a copy. It's an outstanding instrument and I just love it's unique twang.
Love this guy! I just ordered this guitar today... this will be my first and only electric guitar (I only have an acoustic so far) so hopefully mine comes as nice as this one. I looked closely at what was shown of the aliexpress screen so I could find the exact same one and same seller. The guitar gets great reviews on aliexpress, so I am hopeful. if not, I will learn more about the technical aspects more if I need to do any work on it to bring it up to speed, but I think it will be just fine for a beginner... it was either this or a squire, and I felt this was a better choice for long term cuz I will never sell it. I wanted my first guitar to be something special I would always keep no matter what and could hand down when my days are done, so even tho its a fake, I'm ok with that. I inherited a fake Rolex from my grandpa that I cherish as much as if it were real. May seem odd, but I think the fact that it is fake is interesting... it encapsulates a "sign of the times" in a way to me... The $150 I spent on this was a stretch, so there's no way I could afford a real fender, so I don't feel bad about it cuz they weren't gonna get my money anyway. If I get good someday, and have money in the future, then I probably will buy a real one so... that's my thoughts on it.
All guitar compaines should be worried. This is only the first step in people making their own guitars being the norm. I've already built 2 kit guitars and can't see myself ever buying any major companies guitar again. Especially when I can get what would typically cost between $2000-$4000 for under a grand. I ordered both kits with certain specifications and the factory gave me exactly what I asked for. All wiring, pick ups, pots, tuners, etc I buy here in American and do the staining and finishing myself. Even learned how to do my own logo inlay on the headstock here at my house. May try to build one from scratch on the next one.
I would have liked to know what kind of pickups are in it ( ceramic, alnico etc ) the fretboard radius, hows the trem block and saddles ( cheap pot metal I'm guessing ) tuners ( good enough or crap ) body wood, are the frets made of cheap wire that'll be worn out in a year etc etc. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the video. Thanks.
I think they’re a perfect gigging guitar. Cheap, plays, and looks expensive. And if it gets broken or stolen it’s not that big of a loss. Now if we can get good fake amps we’d be in business.
Well, your phone was probably made in China, does it make it fake?
The difference oftentimes is a permission of the original company to have their items reproduced in China. If tomorrow Fender allowed Chinese make their guitars (actually they have done so already), would it make those guitars original?
On the first day God created man,
The rest, was made in China.
Cheap guitars are excellent. I had a takamine f 400s stolen at a gig! Now I use inexpensive Chinese.
Gibson Logic:
- Goes bankrupt
- Makes everything even more expensive
True
You nailed it.
But they’ve turned their brand around. Hard. What they’re putting out now has a wide variety, they’re making changes, upgrades, and I’ve heard across a wide spectrum that they’re great. Plus, inflation exists ... nerd. Even the cheapest fender MIM is $700 nowadays.
Tyler L yeah but the cheapest lp is 1,500-2000$ I have a Gibson and a fender Mexico strat for 650 and i enjoy it just as much as my lp
There's no reason for them to bargain their guitars just because they are going bankrupt. It'll make more sense to stop the production then announce they are closing but hold all the ready made guitats then sell them as collectibles would be more profitable.
I have no problems with China making replicas. I have a problem when they put Fender or Gibson on it and made in USA.
Same. If they left the headstock blank or put a different brand name on it I would be 100% ok with this existing and sold. But as is, I'm not.
Thahaha........people wake up!!! I played hundrets of guitars from 100 to 2700 Euros, and my best sounding and playabel guitar is about 250€ . where i only change the pickups and bridge. The guitar makes the feel, the amp make the sound.
Sure they can add to the price of the guitar because of the brand-name, but the biggest difference is in what they pay the workers.
+Mitch Haman: Man, you hit the nail right on the head. Blatantly throwing on famous logos on replicas is nothing short of outright theft and a conscious desire to steal money from unsuspecting buyers. Especially when they go as far as throwing on LEGITIMATE serial numbers.
Create your own brand. Create your own identity. Work towards actually BUILDING your OWN thing rather than stealing.
Zero issues with uniquely branded replicas.
Joe Satchton Agree. When you put a real serial # on it or nothing to distinguish it from the real thing, you have crossed the line and someone may be cheated in the future. Guitars like this can get out in the wild for sale as a used strat. Maybe to one of us! I would rather know the actual manufacturer of this well-made guitar, so I could add it & other models made by them, to my shopping list.
A lot of new starters would love this. It is cheap and sounds good.
En latam a la mayoria de guitarristas se nos hace muy dificil conseguir una gibson o fender :V creo que a nostros tambien nos encanta.
You’re now my favorite guitar RUclipsr. You’re voice is amazing. You play amazing. You never miss anything in your videos. Keep it up. You deserve way more subscribers.
Thank you!
Guitar MAX and your hair is awesome
@@GuitarMAXMusic Which shop was it? Could you share a link? I really would like to do a review too.
Hard to imagine China dumping guitars to kill Fender and Gibson. I know their labor costs are really low but it kinda makes you think, why are genuine guitars so expensive huh?
Tony Harrell I agree. It's the same with cellphone. It's the ads we pay for along with the name. Lol.
For one thing, the Chinese factory has little to no advertising and promotional costs.
I totally wonder that myself why are American guitars so damm expensive the labor the taxes in this country all the frivolous taxes that we pay in this country city local state taxes federal taxes. Wood is would guitar necks body is would what is the problem with the price we buy these fake guitars and change out the pick guard and the Pick UPS to your desired brand a few adjustments and you kick a** with a nice guitar. I was researching the guitar wood blanks and the wood blanks themselves to shape and mold your own guitar course more than this guitar here actually between 60 and a and copy $200 so you can get inexpensive wood but then the time the effort in carving it out sanding it the tools and materials you'll be over a $150 no time painting it then buying the neck. I'm I pick up biscuits are and I have the if I ever have to change the net to something stylish at least they have a normal would body I get some pickups some good tuners ship I could also router the body and put a nother tremolo on it to do dives and bombs And have a kick a** universal guitar split the pick UPS in every which way but loose get all the sound you need. Anybody have the link to this guitar
Jui Jitsu I think I saw a guy mention a seller on another video he said it was crap ...the one he got. But it's a gamble. I would look at Harley Benton. Lmao.
This video shows Ali express. Maybe search there.
See Fender isn't asking for ridiculous prices like Gibson, so I'd still buy a MIM.
Emilio Estrella mim isn’t mia
I bought my American-made 1992 Standard Stratocaster for $600 in 1993. My two newer Mexican ones cost MORE!!!!! I also have an American-made 1978 Precision Bass I bought in 1981 for $478!!!!
not to mention gibson still forces that auto tune garbage on ALL their modern les paul models, its so fucking annoying as hell.
Actually... If you do your research Gibson has More sub $1000 USA models than Fender
Sure, if you count the Ms and the stuff below the Studio, which is basically epiphone usa.
THANKS TO ONE OF YOUR EARLIER VIDEOS, I bought a strat copy on amazon called a "School Band" guitar for $47. It has a beautiful sunburst finish, Fender style headstock, maple like neck, ebony finger board (I'm not a wood expert), but the craftsmanship is excellent. No decals or numbers and was not set up ready to play, but they even through in two allen wrenches for stress rod and bridge height adjusters. I had to straighten the neck, set the string action and set the intonation. I also filed the ends of the fret wires. It now plays and feels like an old friend. They also included a gig bag, ten foot cord and a pick. I wish Fender COULD do that for under 50 bucks.
Nice!!
Those pickups sound pretty bad though, unless that was just the recording. There's no single coil twang in there at all.
lol for real! And anyone would know that fender is fake, just by the spread out 12 fret inlays and the skunk stripe is too dark (not to mention these fakes have no tilt bar in the neck).
The pick ups ... are very flaters
I could tell it was a fake even before the video started!
I've actually bought a replica Les Paul and telecaster from China. Both have pretty much the exact company logos and markings as seen on the real guitars. And they both play and sound really really good. I think the reason people like me buy these guitars is because I'm on a fixed budget I'm disabled so I only get a small amount of money every month and to be able to play a guitar that looks and plays like the real thing is kind of exciting anyway that's my take on it
Nothing wrong with that sir, your just a smart person. people that can throw with money buy for my part a Fender, I also choose a good similar Faker, the difference is almost not to spot. thats like those very very good fake rolex watches for around 500$, as good as similar to the real one even with the same materials, i wonder who gets ripped of, buying one for 500 or 50000? Make you think huh. Massindoctrination of a brandname, its what people believe that counts, if 99 of 100 people think its ok, is it ok then?
That’s the whole thing the price is to high for the real ones , most people don’t have the money . 👍
Man that is scary. I even should say that I’m the type of person who don’t care much about the brand of guitar that I play as long as I enjoy playing it!
Mat Dubé I have one. I like it more than my Epis L.P or even my LTD ESP 256. I just bought an Ibanez, so we'll see.
My tele was missing a screw on the guard-now it's true when people say I have "a screw lose") and one guard screw lookked like it was screwed in by a drunk China man(literally as it was assembled in China!).
But the pots feel smoother than my other guitars, via the nice hats and the switch moves smoooth and feels "solid".
On this video MAX makes any guitar sound great. That is the sign of a good musician-NOT a $10,000 instrument but PRICELESS TALENT FROM DILIGENT PRACTICE. You know that by your comment.
He didnt mention the neck; it too is like a Fender Tele. It's a modiified/rounded "V". It's EXACTLY like my Epi L.P. Traditional.
This is in fact my favorite guitar.
And it costs 20% of each of one of my other 4 axes!!: $100 vs. $500.
then why is it scary? if the guitar is just as good or better then who the hell cares who made it (and it's freaking cheap)
antigen4 scary for the original brands. There’s always going to be some purists that’ll buy the original but to be honest most of the time the price tag of a Gibson is too high for my (wife’s) budget!!
Mat Dubé I used to be a competitive cyclist. Armstrong could beat me on a tricycle...even if not doped to the gills.
My surgeon friend owns a $20,000 Specialized bike fully tricked out. He never has time to ride it.
Talent in cycling and in musical instrunents cant be bought(except for P.E.D.s). It must be earned through training by mileage or by hours in the practice room.
I bought a genuine Gibson last year, admittedly only one of the 60s tribute's but it was bloody awful, I sold it after two weeks of lacerated fingers. The quality was terrible. I replaced it with a Vintage brand LP Paradise, sounds better and plays without needing to wear plasters.
I have also bought Vintage brand Telecaster thinline as well.
I used to have two Chinese knockoff strats, one white, one black. The only things I changed were the heads. I slapped in some Grover locking ones. The original heads weren't exactly that bad; I just have a preference for locking heads. Played the guitars at gigs for years amped through a Bugera tube. Guitarists came up to me after shows and said my sound was spectacular. If only they knew!
Only musician care what the logo says. Any guitar can sound amazing.
If it plays that well, they should remove the Fender logo and sell it on the basis it is a good guitar. I would certainly pay that sort of money for a good, no brand guitar.
HampshireGary .....they got stuck holding the bag....they would have to recirculate huge numbers of instruments they legally/ethically made.... Gibson's, and hopefully not Fender's, bad management hurt all parties concerned...from manufacturers to contracted dealerships
People make 'partscasters' all the time and plenty of other manufacturers make their own copies of Strat's and Tele's etc with their own decals on them, and that's all fine and dandy. Therefore, the ONLY issue is the decals.....end of story!!
I just wonder why nobody makes a patent for their guitars. There are millions of Strat and Les Paul copies.
The problem isn't not having the patent , but letting them expire . Happens with most industrialized products , as new tech comes out the old stuff is forgotten about or seemed not a threat to future products .Patent expires then it's fair game for everyone , another example is the Hawk 250 street and trail bike, other than the modern look to the bike everything else is taken from the 75 Honda 250 which Honda let expire , and Hawk is making a killing at $1500 for a brand new bike delivered to your door. On the other side of the coin you have Nokia which developed most of the transmitters for cell phones and they've already renewed their patent for another 20 years , not gonna let it go when every other manufacturer is paying you billions for 40 year old tech.
+Esteban Aguayo body shapes are not patentable headstocks on the otherhand are protected by trademark laws and thats actually why gibson sued ibanez in the 70's .....headstocks can be licensed but putting another name on it like chibsons is very illegal
I think at Aliexpress, you can request no decal or made-in-USA, or you can give them a design and put your own logo on it. Then there's no issue at all.
The issue is selling them as Fenders or Gibsons if they had the Chinese company's name on it there would be no issues as you know what you're buying.Theyre Counterfeit,Like Chinese Rolexs,trying to pass off as something they aren't.
One thing I really like about your video - You don't just start off with criticism of these replicas. You appreciate each and every detail of the craftsmanship utilized in making of the instrument.
There's a lot of criticism over the internet bout these Chinese instruments wherein the sellers on AliExpress clearly mention that these are just replicas and not the original, some of them even going to the extent of honestly telling the kinds of woods used in the making, for the price point. Why smh? There are some really cool made in China guitars which are affordable and are a good option for a guy looking for a decent, original like stuff for a reasonable price.
I wouldn't knowingly buy one either, like many people say here, if it had another name on the headstock, I would consider it as a cheap backup.. change the pickups and use it as a mod platform, but not with another companies name on the headstock. The fakes are showing up in pawn shops and music stores now, and they're charging the replicated guitars prices.
Dan_Sullivan you can ask the seller to leave the Fender logo off.
You can also ask them to put whatever you want on it in the fender/gibson font. There's a guy on youtube whose gibson replica says "Fuck" haha
I though about it also, getting one of these and replacing pickups. But seeing how expensive pickups are, after buying a set and replacing it you can buy a MIM Fender Strat for the same money.
I take the fender logo off necks I use for partscasters
Love Max’s cat chillin through the intro jam!
So cute 😺
I appreciate you keeping 100%!
My first guitar was a Chender Tele when I knew nothing and was tricked but now I realize it's way better than other starter guitars I couldve gotten. It had a mahogany body, something more unique than the usual basswood bodies on budget guitars.
I have a chinese Gibson replica. It plays great, new hardware and pickups. It’s a stage tool and sounds good. Looks good too, fills the eye on stage. Just like five unplugged (or just dummy) marshall cabinets staced on top of each other.
Hi Max,
first of all I would like to thank you for your new video, as the topic has become more and more important in recent years.
It's so hard to believe when you said that you did not ask if it's an original Fender, because this guitar looks just like a real fender and sounds like a real fender.
For me It's absolutely clear that I would never buy a copy (plagiarism) of a guitar from a reputable company like Fender or Gibson, because I will not support this criminal companies.
For me there is only one question: Either I have the money to buy an original Fender, or not!
There are so many other Strat models on the market from other companies that cost less than $ 145 and these cheap guitars are not bad either! And you should also remember that when buying plagiarism models you don't have any kind of warranty!
And if it necessarily has to be a Fender, then there are also the different Squier models, which are highly recommended for the much cheaper price.
One thing is clear, anyone who buys plagiarism (no matter which kind of product), should not complain if one day he himself is cheated with plagiarism.
I hope I could express myself good enough in englisch
With lovely greetings from germany,
Matthias
Thanks for your comment Matthias. You make some interesting points.
Matthias, the market place is real. We may not want market forces to be real but they are. Everyone is under the power of the market. Creating and defending monopolies with military aggression was the last gasp of power for the failing European monarchies. The monarchies needed a reason to justify their existence, and they needed a revenue source, so they granted monopolies. Acting like monopolies have some type of divine right to exist is as silly as the monarchies that created them. What's even sillier is defending them in this stage of globalization.
Globalization is real, it is destroying the economic (and by proxy social) fabric of the first world nations. I, personally, believe in nations, and their usefulness in political organization. They will be the last bastions of freedom. But as our societies are being destroyed by the downsides of globalization, it is absolutely silly not to avail yourself of the upsides. The benefit here is that you can get something you want for a tenth of the cost.
I love German products. If engineered in Germany, good also. I.e. Behringer.
Always enjoy your reviews! Clean, clear, straight to the point, and WICKED demo's! PLEASE keep 'em coming!!! \m/\m/
The name doesn't bother me at all, I've had the same unbranded strat for over 15 years and it plays and feels better than some fenders I've tried.
Yea I would where can i buy one my house burnt down in August and my Guitars got destroyed...i only play to relax can you send me a link as to where to buy one pleaseeeeeeeeeeee.
I WOULD BUY IT AND improve on it with genuine fender parts
I basically base my guitar on how it feels , weight, feel of the neck ,, then I would up grade the electronics pick-ups. volume, tone pots ect... So for the right right guitar I would not have any problem with imports.
My friend sold me a 1986 Fender Strat Made In Japan - 20 years ago. He admitted to me that he had considered removing the "Made In Japan" printing, but I happened to buy it before that could take place. To this day, I love my Strat!! The neck is super thin, and someone had put a little Seymour Duncan Humbucker in the bridge. I ended up putting a '57/'62 Style Fender single coil in the middle, which sounds great. I feel lucky to have found the one I did - I also had a Stagg that is a very decent copy of a Jaguar/Jazzmaster kind of hybrid. I would never hide the fact that it is a Stagg, because a good guitar is a good guitar!! Plus, it's Alder, Maple, and Rosewood. It's also easy to replace pickups. Snobs will be snobs. To each their own!!
I'd buy it for a mod platform, only if I sanded the logos and serial number away, because I wouldn't want people thinking it was a real Fender. Maybe get cheeky and put a logo with the Fender font that says "Knockoff"
I bought one of these Chinese Stratocasters 4 months ago I was blown away by the quality fit and finish they are truly giving Fender a run for there money but I do believe they should not be using the Fender logo.
Now then... let's slow down on this a bit (if you don't mind). Who is it that cares about the name on the headstock? You, me and others in the know, but how many in your audience, assuming you have an audience, have a clue what brand a guitar is? I'm beginning to think we're the one(s) who have the issue, not the people who see us play. Or am I missing the point?
Would not buy it. Just because its using a brand name that isn't their own.The company should put their own name on the headstock. Especially if they have a quality product.
kenneth hasel ,, absolutely right, they can make a great guitar, but put your own name , on it!,, don't be ashamed, or shy, just be proud!,,
.
Agreed but you and I both know that that if this same guitar was sold under a random never-before heard brand, people wouldn't buy it regardless of the quality.
I'm not justifying their practice but just saying that it's not necessarily the lack of quality in their products for which they are riding on another brand's reputation.
Exactly.
Asian countries don't look at counterfeits the way we do. They don't care about brands. There's a mini doc on it somewhere here on RUclips.
I agree with your assessment, generally speaking, but Gibson sanctioned it in the beginning of the whole Chinese production era. Gibson saw a cash cow, and went for it because their days were numbered
been buying Vintage Modified Squiers as they are good value for my budget - and one of the reason I buy those is because I could not tell the difference if I was looking at a used "Made in USA' Fender. Especially if the seller wanted to meet at Starbucks etc.
John Travolta playing guitar..
One key difference no one seems to notice are the 12th fret inlay dots. Genuine Fender dots usually lay within the A/B strings. Copies usually place their dots within the E/E strings. Note: there are some genuine Fenders that were made in Japan in the 80's that placed their dots wide like the copies.
I bought a squire strat for 250.00 and I couldn't be happier... Made in Indonesia... Quality thru the roof...
Mark A. Vestal yeah that’s normally how it goes people buy squires with really nice necks and just change the pickups and boom it’s the same quality as a made in America guitar sound wise then get a set up and you have a guitar that’s just as good as a MIA
Also made in a sweat shop... vs having a guitar made by hardworking Americans paying their taxes.
Folks
I've been living in Asia for nearly 9 yrs and bought a "faux-ender" strat when I moved here. It came from China and I even identified the original factory. The guitar looked great when I first bought it - basic black with white scratch board and maple neck. A few things were obviously non-Fender - the tuners were always crap and the fret wire is poor quality and wears quicky, some details are simply not correct as you mentioned. It is also lighter in weight.
Now, if you want it to last 1-2 years, then it is fine. Yet I have a 40 year old Ibanez Artist semi-accoustic that I bought new in Australia and it is still a beautiful guitar. Further, I sold my original CBS edition 1976 strat when it was 10 years old and it was still perfect then, and it got played every day.
After 18 months, the replica neck completely warped, the tuners are now useless (I will have to replace them), the electrics are faulty and the guitar is virtually unplayable. I have made numerous adjustments to make it more playable, but it is now virtually scrap. There is also little point replacing the neck on a copy and in any case, the metal ware is crap.
So if I had my time over again, I would have just bought a Squier or an Epiphone. I have not played in a band for many years thus I'm not concerned about the brand in any case. But don;t expect a cheap replica (branded or otherwise) to last well.
Living where I do is hard on guitars in any case, thus if you are in a temperate climate, it may last longer. But forget it as a long term proposition.
Can you do " stratocaster: squier vs chinesse copy"?
Any time I buy a second hand instrument, I am forced to do extensive research before the purchase these days. Fender (And Gibson) should set up a data base where when you enter the serial number, you can see all stats relating to that specific instrument (Color, Pickups, fretboard, radius, bridge (Trem), music store that sold the instrument when it was new, etc. as it left the factory. We need more than date of manufacture.
Honestly, after the poor quality that Gibson has been putting out for the last decade, I'm not at all surprised you can find Chibsons that play as well or better than the real deal. My issue is with knock-offs - no matter the quality - using the logos and *freakin' serial numbers* to make people think these are from the OEM. Even if the buyer knows, that's some shady practice.
Personally, I've modded Squier guitars to my liking to save on cost over US Fenders and have no regrets, but at least that's still Fender family and not an impersonation.
I agree.
+David B. Thats called natural selection, why on earth would anyone think getting a Gibson les paul custom/supreme thats only 100 dollars is real??
I was gifted a Squire. It actually said Fender by Squire. The Fender logo was standard looking and the words by Squire were very small. I painted it with fingernail polish and Sharpie in a hippie-dippie finish. I guess somebody through is was real Fender 'cause the stole it right off the stage during break. All I lost was a great playing workhorse😢
like your channel a bunch.nice to see someone open minded about off brand guitar companies.no cursing or bad mouthing the other companies too.do you ever come across any heartfields ? how about a review on reverend or eastwood.great channel !
I've played a couple Heartfields and they were great! Hard to find though! Great shredder necks.
I'm not American, but I agree with Trump when I hear him talk about the money that the US has lost due to intellectual property theft by China. And it's not just guitars... and it's not just the USA.
Do a history lesson. The US was famous for IP theft in the early 20th century. This is the wheel turning.
"... and it's not just the USA."
@@darrylbutt2570 Yea it wasn't Fender or Gibson buddy, go Fuck yourself.
Check, mate! One thumbs up!
But its tjeir fault too , i know that they charged a lot fpr their products spevially this guitar , since theres a lot of poor man that want this , they buy this instead over a guitar that is the only difgerence is who clicked the button of a macjine and others smaller factors , i know that there money have a higher value than some asian countries but they just put to high prices in their products , that is greediness
LOL I love the cat in the background being all chill. "Yes, yes, entertain me hooman!"
A clean sound would be much better to see how much it sounds like a fender stratocaster
the whole intro was a clean sound
The thing is that deep down you know it’s fake. I don’t think I’d be able to get past the fact that I have a bogus guitar.
I believe all USA manufacturers of instruments should be concerned. The Chinese are getting better at knocking off these classic designs. If the Chinese ever come to the realization that they can rival the quality of the USA made Fender, Gibson et. al. without counterfeiting and chincing on material costs, then the USA brands have got a serious problem. China is not quite there yet, but once they find a manufacturing equilibrium with labor/material/management/brand/quality there would be no reason to buy a Fender for $1,200.00 when I can get a Chinese clone for $147.00 and have it rival in quality to a USA made product. That is the heart of the issue.
Well that's exactly what happened in the 80's with Japanese made guitars and it certainly could happen again with Chinese made guitars.
jdj5952 exactly. Ibanez in the 80s was making US brand copy cat guitars. Often way better and cheaper than US made guitars. It's only a matter of time until China gets up to par. That's how the market works. Once a product is out for the world, people are bount to copy it until they make it up to par or better. IMO it's for the best. It reduces the huge mark ups for just the brand name and therefore more people can afford a good piece of gear without dumping thousands. Phillip McKnight has a video on this topic and he makes excellent points in regards to it. Cheers!
Hey MAX, your cat is as chill as mine. I can plug my Clapton Strat into my Fender Twin crank it up and he just lays there chilling. Rock on kitty.
Fender should be worried about 45 cm biceps not China made guitars !
Um what?
Its not the 80s you fucking meat head lmafo
Abla napıyon
His right biceps always looks bigger because of the lightning, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had a terrible muscle imbalance.
And I just measured my right biceps and got a sad 39 cm, so your estimation is disturbedly accurate. He's probably exactly at 45 cm.
A question or two or three or... from an old guy. Does the fender logo match according to the year of the serial number? Are the knobs and switches tight and well-made? Are the frets finished? Are the machine heads well built And does it stay in tune? Would my grandsons enjoy playing it as much as a back up made in Mexico Strat Or is it a future Pete Townsend end of concert guitar. Thank you so much for your time and energy exploring all this for us. The reason I asked these questions is I thought I found a great deal from a guy who had a Lupold scope for half off. Worst $600 I ever spent. Junk. Keep on rocking and enjoy every day. Life is short rock the ride.
My Chibson r9 is pretty awesome. I did need to set it up and swap out a few things. $200 guitar $160 for a set of duncan 59's and a new toggle switch.
Played it for 2 years now and the pots are starting to wear out. So thats next on my to do list. Still love this guitar I call my pearly gates.
Bought a chibanez jem and it cost $180.
And that was a nightmare.
Still curious about these chineese strats and teles and might still try it.
Great video and dig that your cat is chilling while you jam. Mine does too.
another excellent vid max! This issue is a result of 2 things. we helped build up these businesses overseas which now have little to no interest in protecting copyrights for businesses thousands of miles away and all the skill to make great guitars cheaply. And people wanting quality goods cheap. Ultimately a case of big business making poor business deals so their IP's are protected?
Yes, the string trees are a dead giveaway that it’s not an American Strat. The Fender Decal is not placed correctly. The Decal should be closer in the corner.
Another great video Max !! 👍
Fender have released Fender Strats with two string trees.
That wasn't what I was referring to. The cheaper Fenders have those exact style trees that are on this guitar. The American Fender has just 1 tree and it is a different style, they have ball-like ends on the part that holds the string down. That was my point. The trees on this guitar don't have those. My point and comment was for American Strats.
I personally had nock offs no matter the brand ( not including food) because to me ANY amount of coping and selling is money stolen from the originals and that's very rarely, if ever , a good thing. Great video S always, man. Love these.👌👌
KILLER shirt!!!!.......One question; If it feels right and sounds right, does the name matter?
Are the pickups alnico ? Or the typical Asian ceramic shit.
That would be the dead give away if it's a fake. American
Strats have alnico.
+5 points for a Peter Steele reference ? Nice playing :)
interesting, didn't know about Fenders copying.
Yes 100% I would buy that! I paid £400 for my Mexican fender in the sale and for just over £100 I could get an imitation American one!??? Hell yes even if it was only the quality of a mid range squire guitar it would be worth it. And as you said it could be modified with new pickups and locking tuners!
I don't care how good the guitar is, using another companies logo is fraud.
Chris Cooper lol
ur mom
Nah, selling it as a “replica” is perfectly fine, but selling it second hand as a genuine Fender is definitely fraud.
not fraud. everyone knows its not a real fender, and what are you gonna do about it little boyyyyyyyyyy
i love fake gibsons, amazing guitars
You nailed it! The only issue for me is the deception that could occur with the logo. I have 2 of these and they are ridiculous as to how they play.
I don't think the chibsons made any difference to Gibson $ problems the ppl that bought those didn't have the money to buy an les Paul anyway so they lost no money.
I need to get me one of these! As someone who loves modding guitars (especially strats), I would really love to get my hands on a strat like this, as well as it becoming harder for me to find a fairly priced lefty strat here in Sydney.
Now at the stage were I wouldn't buy a 2nd hand guitar of any of the big brands.
Wonder how many of these have already hit the market. Like you said if a Pro player like you has trouble detecting the fakery, wondering about the unschooled layman! Thanks for sharing this vital piece of information. Deep respect from India. Roby.
if nothing else...its a good way to get a neck for your project guitar right? here's the thing....if you think the chinese knockoff guitars are what took gibson down...I think you're wrong about that. Gibson's guitar division was and still is profitable. They were loosing money in other areas, like the phillips consumer electronics and the software division were both doing poorly. Also, QA had taken a huge hit lately. Lots of guitars with bad fretwork and other stupid careless quality issues found all instruments at all price points were hurting their reputation and offerings that no one wanted like robot tuners and high performance instruments hurt even the iron clad guitar division. The chibsons never became a main stream thing.
I agree. The people that shelled out $150 for a chibson would likely never pay $2500+ for a real Gibson, no actual sales were lost to the Chinese market. Gibson got itself into this trouble all on it's own.
So I might bite on this...Ive always wanted a gibson explorer but want and need are two different things. I don't need a $1000 plus explorer but, an explorer for $230 to the door that i can customize with good pickups and tuners....that's a definite maybe. For you guys that are interested, the address is Aliexpress.com and they make just about everything. it is kind of scary.
Nice job on the review Max.
In the beginning is that you playing bass in the backing track?
Yes. That track is one of my backing tracks! There's a link to all that stuff in the video description.
Guitar MAX what bass did you use? It sounds really good
Ethically, it's probably not a good idea to support illegitimate products such as these. It really does affect the original manufacturer's sales and operations. However, if it plays well, sounds good, looks nice, and the price is as low as you say, I probably wouldn't be beyond the desire to own one and enjoy playing it! In any case, I think that I wouldn't try to pass it off as an original. Great review! 😊👍👍🎸🎶
you can tell for one thing it has a a squire bridge...right there you know its bogus
What's a Squier bridge? You mean a vintage-style Fender bridge? That's what that is.
Where can you get one?
This is straight counterfeiting which is illegal
Copyright laws are super easy to get around in china.
Illegal in US doesnt mean its illegal in china. Keep your law to yourself. :3
Last time I checked ebay.com was an US firm. By that logic you could also buy drugs and slaves from anywhere on the world
Oneminutefixed you're an idiot
So is Fender's price fixing and other shady overseas activities.
Btw, an ex-craftman from guitar company in Indonesia (who producing middle quality guitars of ibanez, epiphone, jackson, squier etc guitars) retired from the company and create their on workshop. They can make a really good guitar with low price.
deff getting one... chinder.
aliexpress... hit stratocaster. dont include word fender. it shows up without fender tags... but it looks like one.
I ordered mine yesterday. Aliexpress man! Only order from sellers with good reviews and that have at lest 4 or more orders. Hope this helps. Mine will take 20 days to make and about 10 to shipped. I should have it by the end of September.
@@MoonDQueso did you get it yet? I also ordered one.
@@MoonDQueso How is it? Would you recommend it?
Problems really pop up when someone buys a used one, and then tries to sell it later on down the road not knowing it's origin.
A Chender? Or Fina? Oh my... well it also sounds good cus you play really, really well. Thx good vid.
Chinacaster!
Trevor lol 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽
Fendel Stlatocastel
Walter Dewald oh so wlong but oh vely funny ( I know p.i.) no offense...
I call them Fauxnders.
I just bought one as a beginner guitar. I appreciate your video! do you think this is a better buy than a squire for instance?? thanks brother you rock!
The pickup's sound kind of muddy so yeah, big difference from an actual fender but tbh if i didn't know that was a chinese copy i might get fooled real bad
As someone who loves Japanese guitars... I find this really interesting. I was at GC today and played a Fender Player Series and... I immediately left it there lol Same with the 2018 Gibson Les Pauls... quality is gone and at 850 (Fender Player) or 1k for a Gibson (with a sticky neck), I understand why most people rather play a replica than an original. Greco, Edwards and Tokai Les Paul are truly fantastic for their price
I wonder how much of these wind up on craigslist or any other second hand market being passed off as a Real USA fender!
One more reason to stay away from the "big names".
Great playing. I like the bit you did at the end.
Thanks James!
I've just bought one.!! They are amazing guitars for the money .!! Mine is the exact colour as your test one.
Where did you get it from?
Mark Miller Google Aliexpress
MetalShredder667
You only search the name of the guitar and choose one? Because there are too many options and i dont know wich one choose
Maxx, I've been watching your videos for a while now And I am impressed with this strat. Where can I order one like yours? is there a website you can steer me too?
Thahaha........people wake up!!! I played hundrets of guitars from 100 to 2700 Euros, and my best sounding and playabel guitar is about 250€ . where i only change the pickups and bridge. The guitar makes the feel, the amp make the sound.
Musik 4life the euro is schitt
Johnny67 You are shite or scheiss;)
Musik 4life MAGA!
Johnny67 HULU
America is shit same as Germany
Glen Danzig and Brendan Lee's love child playing a chender...classic! Love ya Max!
Is it basswood, Max? I had one about 1 year ago, it was a gilmour model which for the real one you pay A LOT of money. Overall played well, but needed some setup.
Btw, you should try a tele, but order it with swamp ash and make it to your liking (color, neck) mine cost me 230 dlls and it was sweeeet, I was looking for a lefty warmoth to my taste but $$$$$$
Aaron Rodriguez I would like a Gilmour replica 👍 as long as it doesn't try to pass itself off as the genuine article.
inbox!
Aaron Rodriguez Was that a reply to me? How do I find an Inbox on my RUclips account? TIA
They do lefty’s?
V Music yep and any color, wood.
I have a Chinese Malmsteen Fender Stratocaster, and maybe I got just plain ol' everyday lucky, and perhaps the Chinese have seriously upped their game in replicating these Fender Stratocaster, because all I know is I REALLY like my replica. Regardless of the debate about who is/isn't getting paid due to licensing, I'd bet if Fender (in this instance) were to start making these replica guitars and at a competitive price they make a mint. Something else is I have yet to meet anyone who has one and who will give it up. Nobody I know who has one is keeping it and play it routinely. I do and have zero plans to get rid of mine; again, they are really well made and for about $150 bucks delivered verses ten times that for one, you are definitely the consumer who fell upstairs for what he got!
I think that as China and Japan realize that they can actually make a quality product (and they do have the knowledge and craftmanship) and be able to sell it at a reasonable price everywhere else in the world, many companies that used to rely on their "fame" will be in serious trouble over the next 5-10 years. It will take only for them (chinese and japanese companies) to come up with their own brand name and a series of sponsorships to some famous musicians and they would beat up their competition. Why? Because as quality tends to be about the same, price will be the key factor for the customers...and we know that they make it cheaper by the dozen, even if their costs increase due to the development of better pickups, stains, etc.
I always tought Gibson was the best, but their prices were the equivalent of RAPE.
Jonnatan Pena - Japan doesn't make cheap copy guitars. They haven't done anything like that in many years.
DiscoScottie true!. What I meant is that in comparison their "price" is more affordable than the top american brands, although they are also becoming pricey. What I personally like about the Japanese makers and their culture in general is that from time to time someone there decides to become a guitar maker, this person would go way beyond the technical aspects of building a good instrument. Instead, this person will dedicate himlself to care for the root of the tree from which after 18 years of care he will get the wood to build this guitar version of a "Katana". You know what I mean?. I have read about a few of them. Cheers!
Japan has been making awesome real brand guitars since the 80s man... Where you been??
Jonnatan Pena, one only need look at Ibanez to see Japanese quality in action, those guitars are just as good (many are better) than anything Fender or Gibson can offer. Ask Martin who their biggest competitor is in the acoustic market, and I bet Takamine is at the top of the list. In a few years, there will be a native Chinese brand that will come out and give the big boys a run for their money... mark my words, it will happen
DiscoScottie tokai, fernandes, esp they are all based on traditional designs somewhat (the latter less so) not illegal fakes but for examples fernandes burny guitars can't be sold in the US because they are too close to real Gibson's.
Quality, sound, playable? Yeah, I would mod it and make it something new anyway.
Sad when China makes a better guitar sad
I was SO close to pulling the trigger on the Chibson Sunburst, so beautiful, so tempting......
I not only would buy it, I have several of these Strats. Like you said, they need a little work, meaning I changed out the tuners &
the pickups. I also had the frets leveled just to be on the safe side, but not every one of them needed it! Every single one sounds great, and plays VERY well. I have10 of them. All together I have less than a grand of an investment in them. THAT alone is enough to out weigh the cost of an American Strat. And I would put them up against ANY real Fender any day and they would smoke'em!
Please play that beginning riff on a guitar that actually has some sustain! Cause that was magical.
Bought a Squire the exact Copy of that in Arctic White. I used to play in high school and earn my money and had a vast know,edge of guitars and amps. Boy I wish those days were back again!
The body is abit thinner, maple too light a color, number of pickguard screws wrong, but eventually this company will get it right and you can buy genuine Fender parts, gfs pickups and electronics that can along with other tweaks make it passable to 90% of buyers. Fender and Gibson asked for this to happen by being greedy and asking too much. Its business 101, if you overcharge then you cause competition. Keep up the great vids!
You established how well the guitar plays. I really liked those pickups a lot. With whst you said about being given a convincing back story--- under those circumstances I would have bought it. Grest video
I have one exactly like the one in the video but mine is a California Series 1997. After I trade off my Gibson 1978 SG Firebrand for it, I went through a bunch of website to make sure it wasn't a copy. It's an outstanding instrument and I just love it's unique twang.
Great video Max!
Next time try getting one similar to a PRS or the Buckethead Signature.
Love this guy! I just ordered this guitar today... this will be my first and only electric guitar (I only have an acoustic so far) so hopefully mine comes as nice as this one. I looked closely at what was shown of the aliexpress screen so I could find the exact same one and same seller. The guitar gets great reviews on aliexpress, so I am hopeful. if not, I will learn more about the technical aspects more if I need to do any work on it to bring it up to speed, but I think it will be just fine for a beginner... it was either this or a squire, and I felt this was a better choice for long term cuz I will never sell it. I wanted my first guitar to be something special I would always keep no matter what and could hand down when my days are done, so even tho its a fake, I'm ok with that. I inherited a fake Rolex from my grandpa that I cherish as much as if it were real. May seem odd, but I think the fact that it is fake is interesting... it encapsulates a "sign of the times" in a way to me... The $150 I spent on this was a stretch, so there's no way I could afford a real fender, so I don't feel bad about it cuz they weren't gonna get my money anyway. If I get good someday, and have money in the future, then I probably will buy a real one so... that's my thoughts on it.
so please tell us how the fuitar sound and feels ?
Whats tha name of the retailer
I still think you deserve more traction on the platform! I hope more people find your channel!
All guitar compaines should be worried. This is only the first step in people making their own guitars being the norm. I've already built 2 kit guitars and can't see myself ever buying any major companies guitar again. Especially when I can get what would typically cost between $2000-$4000 for under a grand.
I ordered both kits with certain specifications and the factory gave me exactly what I asked for. All wiring, pick ups, pots, tuners, etc I buy here in American and do the staining and finishing myself. Even learned how to do my own logo inlay on the headstock here at my house.
May try to build one from scratch on the next one.
I like the cat just chillin on the couch
I would have liked to know what kind of pickups are in it ( ceramic, alnico etc ) the fretboard radius, hows the trem block and saddles ( cheap pot metal I'm guessing ) tuners ( good enough or crap ) body wood, are the frets made of cheap wire that'll be worn out in a year etc etc.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the video. Thanks.